1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved scooter driving structure, and more particularly to an improved scooter driving structure having the features of a simple structure, and a simple, easy and convenient use, and providing a stable operation for an exercise with fun, and the novel scooter driving structure gives a feasible solution to improve over the prior art.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a conventional scooter as shown in FIG. 1 includes a scooter platform 11, an operation control rod 12 and two wheels 13, wherein the operation control rod 12 is pivotally coupled onto the scooter platform 11 and a handlebar 121 is installed onto the control rod 12; and the two wheels 13 are pivotally installed on two opposite sides of the scooter platform 11, and one of the wheels 13 is linked to the operation control rod 12 for controlling a driving direction of the scooter. When the scooter is in use, a user stands on the scooter platform 11 by one leg, and performs a pedaling movement with respect to the ground by another leg, such that the scooter can slide freely forward. As the sliding speed of the scooter slows down, the user can continue the pedaling movement to maintain the speed of the scooter. However, such pedaling movement made by the user's leg gives a very limited speed, a high instability and a monotonous movement, and thus the conventional scooter requires further improvements.
In view of the drawbacks of the aforementioned conventional scooter, some manufacturers developed a front pedaling scooter as shown in FIG. 2, and the front pedaling scooter includes a pedal 14 pivotally installed to the top of a front end of the scooter platform 11, a swinging arm 141 installed at a front end of the pedal 14, a first driving wheel 142 pivotally installed at a front end of the swinging arm 141, a first driven wheel 15 installed at a rear end of the scooter platform 11, a second driving wheel 16 rotating in a one-way direction and installed coaxially with the first driven wheel 15, a second driven wheel 17 installed coaxially with the rear wheel 13, a first driving chain 18 with an end fixed to the top of a front end of the scooter platform 11, and another end wound around the first driving wheel 142 and the first driven wheel 15 and then pulled by an elastic element 19 to the bottom at the front of the scooter platform 11, a second driving chain 20 installed round and between the second driving wheel 16 and the second driven wheel 17, such that the user can step on the pedal 14 for reciprocally u and down movements, and the first driving wheel 142 can move together with the back and forth movement of the swinging arm 141 to pull the first driving chain 18, and the coaxial first driven wheel 15 and second driving wheel 16 are driven to rotate, and the second driving chain 20 is provided to drive the coaxial second driven wheel 17 and rear wheel 13 to rotate synchronously to drive the scooter to move forward. Although this scooter can achieve the effect of driving the scooter by pedaling, yet it has the following drawbacks:
1. Since the pedaling and driving components are installed at upper and lower section of front and rear ends of the scooter platform, the entire scooter platform is installed with pedaling and driving components, which obviously occupy much space and incur complicated packaging and inconvenient transportation procedures for a simple-structured scooter.
2. Since the user stands on the scooter platform with one leg, and pedal the step member to move up and down by another leg, the front pedal operation is rather not natural or ergonomic, and the exercise movement is monotonous and boring.
Therefore, some manufacturers developed a rear pedaling scooter as shown in FIG. 3, and the scooter comprises a pedal 21 pivotally coupled to the top of a rear end of the scooter platform 11, a swinging arm 211 installed under the pedal 21, a first driving wheel 212 pivotally installed at an end of the swinging arm 211, a second driving wheel 22 installed coaxially with the rear wheel 13 and rotated in a one-way direction, a guide wheel 23 installed to the scooter platform 11 and at a rear end of the second driving wheel 22, an elastic element 24 installed under a front end of the scooter platform 11, a pulley 25 installed at a rear end of the elastic element 24, and a driving chain 26 with an end fixed to a rear end of the scooter platform 11 and another end wound around the first driving wheel 212, the second driving wheel 22, the guide wheel 23 and the pulley 25 and then installed to the scooter platform 11, such that a user can step on the pedal 21 for up and down movements, and the first driving wheel 212 can swing back and forth with the swinging arm 211 to pull the driving chain 26 and drive the coaxial second driving wheel 22 and rear wheel 13 to rotate. With the pulling force of the elastic element 24 and the one-way rotation of the second driving wheel 22, the pedal 21 can be moved reciprocally up and down to rotate the rear wheel 13 to drive the scooter to move forward. Since the pedaling and driving components are concentrated at the rear end of the scooter platform 11, such arrangement does not occupy that much space and incur simple packaging procedure and a convenient transportation for the simple-structured scooter. In the meantime, the way of pedaling backward by a user's leg for the operation of the scooter is more natural and ergonomic, and the rear pedaling scooter can improve the aforementioned shortcomings. However, the practical application still has the drawback of a slow moving speed. In other words, the rear wheel 13 and its coaxial second driving wheel 22 are rotated by the swing of the swinging arm 211 that pulls the driving chain 26, and there is limited space at the rear end of the scooter platform 11, and the swinging amplitude of the swinging arm 211 is very limited. As a result, the swinging arm 211 can produce a small swing each time when the pedal 21 is pedaled, and the pulled distance of the driving chain 26 is short and the round per minute of the second driving wheel 22 and the rear wheel 13 is small, and thus the scooter cannot be accelerated effectively. If it is necessary to improve the speed, then the user has to step on the pedal continuously in order to increase the pedaling frequency, but the user will be exhausted and the exercise is no longer of fun anymore.